Carbon Trading Program Tempts NZ Sheep Farmers

Auckland, New Zealand, Aug. 19, 2010--New Zealand’s sheep farmers are being increasingly drawn to a government carbon trading program that pays more to plant trees than sell wool and mutton, according to a Bloomberg News story.

It's not clear what impact the trend might have on the wool carpet and rug industry.

The system, begun in 2008 and the only one of its kind outside Europe, awards farmers credits that are sold to offset greenhouse gas emissions. The project may earn them about $172 per acre a year on land unprofitable for grazing animals, said David Evison, a senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury’s New Zealand School of Forestry.

Forests planted for carbon credits may increase to 30,000 hectares a year compared with 3,500 hectares in 2009, according to Bloomberg. The system is a welcome alternative for sheep farmers who’ve struggled for decades from a combination of slumping wool prices, drought and competition for land from the dairy and lumber industries, the Bloomberg story said.

Federated Farmers organization estimates 20%, or 2,800, sheep and beef farms could be replaced by carbon forests, harming communities that rely on livestock farming for jobs as shearers, mechanics and vets.